Backfire
by Blockious
Summary: Sometimes, a plan can backfire, maybe in a direct way, or in an indirect way. Jaune's plan to become a Huntsman slightly backfired, and it affected him in a way. His friends pick up on this, And want to help.
1. A Change

**One month and 2 one shots later and here we are! New full fledged story!**

* * *

Everyone noticed a change in Jaune. At first it was subtle, with him waking up and not greeting his team, though that was put off as him being very tired.

It slowly became more noticeable as he slowly smiled less, became slightly more easily agitated.

One time Cardin tried to pick on Velvet again, only for Jaune to twist his arm and flip him into a table, spltting it in half, within a manner of seconds.

He began taking things more seriously. He focused alot in class as of recent, which raised his grades. He stopped perusing Weiss, which shocked everyone, even said girl.

It just became more noticeable each day, and then he made an unusual request one day.

* * *

Team RWBY were all doing their own thing in their room.

Ruby was going through a weapons magazine, Weiss was studying, Blake was reading, though what it was is a secret to all, and Yang was playing a game on her scroll.

It was a relatively normal day until they heard someone knock on their door.

They all shared a look before Ruby jumped off her bed and opened to the door to reveal Jaune.

"Oh hey Jaune! What brings you here? Oh, are you here to ask Weiss on a date again?" She asked, and said girl sighed and rolled her eyes before she braced herself.

"No actually, I'm here for Yang." He said which suprised everyone.

Yang hopped off her bed and went to Jaune.

"Hey there Lover-Boy, what is it you want? A night out in Vale? Looking for a fun time?" She teased, but to everyone's surprise he didn't react at all, and responded normally.

"No, I came here to ask you for a favour."

"What would that be?"

"I want you to train me."

"Wait, train you? Why?"

"Yeah, I need work on my hand to hand combat skills, I wont always have my sword, so I need to be able to fight without it."

"Ah, I see, alright well since there's nothing to do, I'll meet you in the combat rooms."

"Alright." And with that he walked off.

Once Yang closed the door she turned around and met everyone's gaze.

"So... Anyone else notice anything odd about our local knight there?" She asked.

"Yeah! He seemed more... tense." Ruby said.

"Yeah! He didn't even respond to my teasing, he just took it in stride."

"Jaune has been acting differently recently, I've seen him in the library, studying intensely." Blake added.

"I wonder what's been bugging him. Any ideas Weiss?" Ruby asked the heiress.

"What? How shoukd I know?"

"I don't know! Maybe he's all sad and stuff because you turn him down in the meanest ways!" Ruby exclaimed.

"She is right, it's not your fault that you don't like him, but you are kinda rude." Yang pointed out.

"Name one time!"

"How about when you slammed the door in his face, and cracked his nose." Ruby pointed out.

"Or when you froze his legs in place." Yang added.

"Or when you froze him entirely." Blake added.

"I think he had hypothermia from that and was in the infirmary for a week." Yang commented.

"Oh! And that time you stepped your heel on his foot."

"Or when you broke his guitar."

"Or when you basically humiliated by insulting him in front of the cafeteria."

"Or when you crumpled his love letter to you and threw it at his face."

Weiss looked at them with disbelief, they were against her!

"How dare you!" She exclaimed.

"We dare. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go train with Jaune. Catch you later!" Yang went through the door and left, heading towards the training rooms.

* * *

Hours later, Yang returned to the team's room.

"Hey Yang, how was training with Jaune?"

"Exhausting, he may not show it, but he is strong."

"Really?" Ruby asked, intrigued by this.

"Yeah! While his stance was all flimsy and he tended to mess up, he can pack a punch, we even hit each other's fists and we ended up tearing a bit of the floor from the impact!"

"Sounds impressive." Blake commented.

"It was, but I felt something that was backing him in his strength. It wasn't unnatural per say, but it felt..." Yang trailed off as she thought of the right word.

"Different?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah! Different. Like, it was still the Arc we know but... It felt like he was a different kind of person."

The team sat in silence. They could only wonder what was happening to their friend.

They were brought out of their musings when they heard a knock on their door.

Yang opened it to reveal the NPR of JNPR, standing in the hall together.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hello Yang, may we come in?" Pyrrha asked.

"Sure!" Yang moved aside to let the three in.

"So what brings you three here?"

"Well, we came to talk to you guys about Jaune."

The air tensed a bit, knowing that the topic isn't that light.

"So, you noticed the changes too?" Ruby asked.

The three nodded.

"How could we not? This is Jaune we're talking about, our fearless leader! How could we not notice the how different he is now!" Nora said.

"He has been acting rather strange as of recent. He seemed rather stressed, and he's been trying to keep in within himself, and we're worried about him." Ren said.

"We were also curious about something." Pyrrha added.

"What would that be?" Blake asked.

"We were curious if Weiss knew anything about this." All eyes were on said heiress.

"Wait, why am I always getting accused for Jaune being like this?!" She complained.

"Well you did slam a door in his face once." Nora said.

"And you also-"

"Alright, alright! I don't need the whole list again." She interrupted.

"Maybe you should talk to Jaune, apologize? It might make him feel better." Ruby suggested.

Weiss looked around as everyone had eyes on her. With a sigh, she gave a response.

"Fine, I'll talk to him."

* * *

 **First chapter done! Leave a review, makes me always glad to write. More to come!**


	2. Apology For Nothing

Weiss couldn't believe what she got roped into doing by the others.

Here she was, walking with Yang to the training rooms to meet with Jaune. He requested training from Yang again, so she suggested that Weiss should come with and apologize, in hopes of making Jaune feel better.

When the two entered the training room, Jaune was suprised to see her.

"Hey, surprised to see you here Weiss." He greeted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"Nothing, just that I asked Yang to train me, and here you are."

"I just wanted to observe, that is all."

"Alright, that's fine."

Weiss walked off to the side and sat on a bench.

The two blondes started their training.

It was your typical training regime, focusing on the arms as that was what Jaune was trying to achieve.

As she watched, she could see the fire in Jaune's eyes. A burning desire to overcome his weaknesses.

While she will admit that it is impressive of how willing he is to inprove, she wondered what prompted him to train like this.

Most would agree with Jaune of the whole "combat without weapon" point he made, but none would focus on it like this. This seemed like he was forcing it upon himself.

They went on like this for 20 minutes before the two were ready to spar.

Yang set a five minute timer, just so that neither will be completely exhausted.

Weiss saw Yang prepare in her usual stance, a little loose, but just enough so she has full control.

Jaune on the other hand... He looked a little nervous. His stance was all over the place, and he raised his fists like he was already ready to defend in boxing.

The spar started with Yang charging at Jaune. She raised her fist and went for a punch once she was close enough. Jaune managed to dodge and give a backhand whack to her back.

She readjusted her direction and was locked onto Jaune. She charged and this time she punched him in the face, causing him to reel back before noticing her foot speeding to his face, which sent him onto the ground.

Yang ran once again at Jaune, and once she was close, he rolled to the side to avoid the punch that left a crack on the ground.

Jaune took this moment to hop onto his feet, crouched down and footsweeped her right leg. She wobbled a little as she tried to balance herself. Jaune took this moment to do a round house kick, knocking her to the ground.

Yang pushed herself off the ground and faced Jaune, eyes now red.

'This is the end...' Weiss thought, as she knew once Yang had red eyes, there's no beating her head on.

Yang cocked back her fist as she approached Jaune. To Weiss' suprise, he didn't run. In fact, he cocked back his own fist as well. He infused a bit of Aura into his punch as Yang threw hers. The two met midway and it sent a gust of wind outwards so strong that even Weiss could feel it.

The buzzer went off, indicating the end of the spar, and the two just fell onto the floor.

Jaune was breathing heavily while Yang just paced her breaths to keep it steady.

Weiss walked from the bench towards the two blondes.

"Well that was certainly impressive. Good work Jaune. I see you are improving." She complimented.

"Thanks, couldn't have done it without my friends to help." He said as he sat up.

"Aw Jaune, don't be so modest, you got that will to improve! Be proud of it!" Yang said as she smacked Jaune on the shoulder, causing him to flinch from the pain.

"Hehe, thanks Yang." He replied.

"No problemo Jaune! Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna head out. Nice spar Vomit Boy!" She called out as she left.

"Stop calling me that!" He shouted back, which elicted a small chuckle from Weiss.

Weiss looked at the boy who was still sitting on the ground

"Hey Jaune."

"Yes Weiss?"

"I... have something to say to you."

"What would that be?"

"I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"I wanted to apologize for any horrible actions I have done to you."

"What? Oh! You mean- You don't have to worry about that Weiss." He said once he realized what she was talking about.

"Wait, what?" She asked, a little shocked.

"Yeah, it's no biggie."

"Why?! I treated you horribly!"

"While they were a little mean, I understood your frustration. I mean, I was very persistent on asking you out, so I'd imagine it would get annoying after the third time."

"Oh, I see..."

"I want to know, why did you feel the need to apologize to me?" He questioned.

She hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should tell him or not.

"The others recently brought it up, and it made me realize the error of my ways, so I decided to come and apologize."

"Ah, well all is well. So don't worry about it."

"Okay. If I may, why did you decide to learn hand to hand combat?" She asked, which caused him to stiffen up a bit.

"Well, I won't always have my sword on me, so learning another form of combat will be helpful." He explained

"That I get, but why so intensely? This level of training is more than any backup combat." Jaune froze for a moment, she knew there was more to it, but he didn't want her to know.

"Well, I'm always looking for ways to improve, and this training also raise my strength, so it will be helpful in both ways."

"I see... well that is all. I must be going now."

"Alright, see yea Weiss."

"Bye."

Once Weiss left the training room, she went through the new information, and she knew something wasn't adding up.

"What are you hiding Jaune?" She asked to no one in particular.


	3. Recall

Weiss was heading back to her team's dorm to share her information. She sent her team a message that she was on her way, as well as a sending Pyrrha to get Ren and Nora to meet up.

She couldn't make heads or tails of this situation. Something wasn't adding up. Jaune's choice on training seemed forced, like he needed to learn it no matter what.

She would need to discuss this with the others.

She made it to her team's dorm and once she opened the door, she could see everyone already waiting.

"Weiss! You're back! Tell us, did you apologize to Jaune?" Ruby asked.

"I did apologize to Jaune, yes."

"So, how is he? Is he alright now?!"

"He hasn't changed."

"Wait, but you apologized!"

"I did apologize, but he dismissed any reason why I should've apologized like as if what I was doing was normal."

"So if it wasn't you that made him like this, then what was?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not certain..."

"Looks like we're back to square one." Ren said.

"Is there anything you guys may recall with Jaune? Anything that might be related to his mood?" Weiss asked the group.

"Well he seemed displeased when I gave a pun last week!" Yang said.

"That's because your puns are dreadful." Weiss said sternly as Yang looked like she got shot in the heart.

"How could I be betrayed by Weiss... Blegh..." She said as she fell back on her bed, acting out a fake death.

"Maybe it was Cardin? He did bully Jaune before." Ruby suggested.

"No, he took down Cardin instantly last time. I doubt he'd attempt to bully Jaune at the moment."

The group sat in silence as they tried to think of any more ideas.

Suddenly, Pyrrha remembered something.

"I may have an idea."

"What would that be?"

"Well, it happened a month ago..."

* * *

 **One Month Ago**

Pyrrha had just returned to her team's dorm after an afternoon of training. She was about to step into the bathroom to shower when the main door opened up, revealing Jaune.

"Oh hey Pyr, you done training?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was just about to clean up." As she talked, she noticed an envelope in his hand.

"What's that?" She asked as she pointed at the envelope.

"Huh? Oh! This thing? It's a letter addressed to me, but there isn't any indication who it's from."

"Oh, okay. Well I hope it's something good. I need to shower now."

"Ah, alright."

She went into the bathroom and took a shower. Once she was ready, she came out.

"Hey Jaune, do you happen to know where my hairbrush is?" She asked as she walked out, trying to hold her hair from going around.

To her surprise, no one was in the room.

"Where did he go?" She wondered.

As she looked around for her hairbrush, she smelt something burning.

"What in the world..."

She followed the smell to it's source, and she found a pile of ash sitting in a garbage bin

'Did he burn the letter? No, why would he?' She thought to herself.

* * *

 **Present**

"Wait, so he burnt the letter?" Weiss asked.

"Possibly, he was last there with an envelope, and then was gone with ashes left behind." Pyrrha said.

"So then the letter must be why Jaune is in a mood." Ren said.

"But... what could be on the letter that could've made him this mad?" Nora asked.

"I'm not sure, but it can't be good. Even his new training concerns me."

"Oh yeah! He's training with Yang! How'd that go Weiss?" Nora asked.

"I will say he is improving since he first got here, but I find him... unusual."

"Unusual? How?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, he's currently learning hand to hand combat with Yang, which is helpful. He made the reasoning that he wouldm't always have his weapon on him, so he needed to learn how to fight without it."

"Well, isn't that a good thing? I mean, he's not wrong." Blake asked.

"He is right, yes. But people don't take it as far as he has."

"Yeah, now that I think if it, he's trying very hard at this." Yang said.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"When people learn how to fight hand to hand combat as a back up, they try to learn the basics, like when I was training you on Patch, right?" Yang asked Ruby.

"Oh yeah, right..." Ruby said as she recalled that moment.

"Exactly. And yet, Jaune isn't trying to learn the basics, it's like he's trying to merge it as his main combat type."

"How can you tell?" Blake asked.

"I saw it when Jaune and Yang were sparring. He was using moves, and be trained in a way that would suggest that he was delving deep into this new combat style."

"So it's like he wants to fight differently now?" Ruby asked.

"Possibly, but we could be wrong. Jaune was always looking for ways to improve himself, it wouldn't be surprising ifhe just overestimated how much he needed to train in hand to hand combat."

"Maybe... I guess we can only speculate for now until we get a straight answer." Weiss said.

* * *

Jaune was in the gym. Exercising, practicing, improving. He absolutely needed to improve in his head.

He was currently at a punching bag, hitting it with all his might, yet it wasn't enough.

'Weiss seems to have noticed my change, and if she has, then the others must've as well. Go figure though, I'm not really in the best of moods right now.'

He stopped with the bag and sat down on a bench.

He let out sigh before he looked at his scroll and saw the date.

"Guess they'll find out tomorrow, whether I like it or not."

* * *

 **Another chapter done! Next time, is the reveal!**


	4. Reveal

Jaune didn't sleep the night. His mind was in constant panic and anxiety for what was to come.

He didn't want his friends to find out about this, but now he has no choice, today is the day.

Morning rolled by and his team woke up, yet he didn't sleep even a tiny bit.

As the day passed by, his team, and even team RWBY picked up on his state.

They were in the middle of Professor Port's class, and everyone was either asleep, talking amongst each other, or taking notes.

However, RWBY and NPR were too busy focusing on Jaune.

"He looks awful..." Ruby whispered to Weiss.

"He does seem exhausted. Did he not sleep last night?"

"Doesn't seem like it, normally I wake him up, but this morning he was awake before me! And he should be asleep by now..." Pyrrha said.

"This isn't good. Whatever is bugging Jaune is now affecting him even more. We need to find out what's wrong, fast." Weiss said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

The class ended and the seven watched as Jaune slowly stood up and walked off. They quickly got up and followed Jaune.

They caught up with Jaune as he exited the main building, and now was walking through the courtyard, towards the Bullhead docks.

"Do you think he's going to Vale?" Ruby questioned.

"Doubt it, he's still in Beacon uniform." Blake said.

Jaune made a stop once he reached the docks, and that's when the group decided to approach him.

"Jaune?" Weiss called for him.

He turns his head towards the group, and they can see the bags under his eyes, showing he had zero sleep.

His eyes went wide when he realized his friends were there. He knew that they would learn about what was going on, but he didn't want them to find out right now!

"Guys?! What are you doing here?!" He asked.

"What are we doing here? More like what are you doing here? You went off without a word and now you question us?" Weiss questioned him.

"You can't be here! You have to go, now! Before he gets here!" He tried to get them to leave, but another voice spoke up.

"And why is that, Mr. Arc?" The voice asked.

Jaune froze in his spot before he slowly turned around and saw Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch standing there, with Ozpin holding his ever present mug.

"Professors! W-what are you doing here?" Jaune asked nervously. He was not liking the crowd.

"I was in my office when I was sent a message by an interesting fellow, and they told me to come to this location. Tell me, you are all here, so you must be here for the same reason, am I right?" Ozpin asked.

"We were following Jaune, so he must be here for a reason." Yang said.

Jaune paled, all eyes were on him? they wanted answers, and he didn't know how to tell them. As seconds passed, he saw a Bullhead on its way.

"Looks like you're about to find out..." He said sadly as he pointed towards the oncoming Bullhead.

They watched as the Bullhead made its way closer to Beacon. It soon slowed down and went for a landing.

It touched down on the open area and with the sound of gears working, the door slowly opened.

A figure could be seen inside. When they stepped out into the light, the figure turned out to be a tall man, blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes.

He walked down the ramp and made his way to the group.

"Jaune, who is that?" Pyrrha asked, looking at what seems to be an older, but manlier version of Jaune.

"That... is my dad... Nicholas Arc..."

The man, now identified as Nicholas, walked up to Jaune.

"Hello Jaune..." He said sternly.

"Hello dad..." He responded.

Nicholas looked behind Jaune and saw the group.

"Who are they?" He asked.

With a sigh, he responded.

"This is Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. The first three are my teammates, and they are all my friends." Jaune said as he introduced them.

Nicholas looked at the group, and then specifically his team.

"Which one is the leader of your team?" He asked.

"Oh that's easy! Jauney here is our fearless leader!" Nora answred, excited to see Jaune's father's reaction to his son being the leader.

To everyone's surprise, Nicholas wore a frown and turned to Ozpin.

"You made **_him_** a leader?" He asked Ozpin, which shocked everyone.

"Yes I did. Is there an issue with that?"

"Of course there's an issue with it! You made a weak person a leader! He isn't fit to be a leader, he isn't fit to even be in this school."

Jaune's hands clenched into fists, knuckles turning white as he took the verbal abuse.

"How did you even let him in?! His transcripts must've been very lacking!"

"Actually, they have alot to say here." Ozpin said as he took out his scroll and showed Nicholas Jaune's transcripts.

"What is this? This is obviously fake! He didn't attend "Feather Academy", that's not even a real place! He didn't even attend a combat school to begin with! This document is clearly forged!" Nicholas shouted.

Pyrrha tensed up. She knew of Jaune's transcripts, but the others didn't, and Ozpin was there with them.

"Jaune, is this true?" Ren asked.

He didn't respond.

"No matter, he won't be able to fight now. Jaune, I'm sure you remember what I said in the letter I sent you. Crocea Mors, now." He said strenly.

Hesitating, Jaune took out his scroll and called in for his rocket locker.

It landed beside him and opened up. He grabs Crocea Mors and holds it in front of him, inspecting the weapon.

He then turned from his locker and walked towards Nicholas, and handed him Crocea Mors.

His friends looked at him in shock as he just gave his weapon to his father.

"Jaune, what's going on?! Why are you giving him your weapon?!" Ruby asked.

Jaune tensed up and didn't turn around, nor answer the question.

"Wait, you didn't tell them? And you're their leader?" Nicholas questioned.

Jaune gave no response, and merely stayed still.

"Well then, allow me to explain. Jaune Arc, my son, has zero training. I refused to train him when he showed no promise of becoming a Huntsman. So he faked his way into Beacon, stole Crocea Mors and ran off." Jaune stayed silent, refusing to turn around in fear of everyone's reactions.

His friends were shocked, they all knew he wasn't the strongest, but this explained everything.

And there was more.

"And so, me and my wife have come to a decision." He says as he faces Jaune, and their eyes meet

"Because of your actions and failiures, Jaune Arc, as of this day, you are no longer an Arc. You are disowned from the family, and unworthy of wielding Crocea Mors." Nicholas announced for the group to hear.

Everyone looked at each other, Goodwitch held a glare at Nicholas, and it was now that Ozpin spoke up.

"Nicholas, perhaps you are being rash."

"No. This is final." He responded before looking at Jaune again.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't run away..." Nicholas said in a low voice. before turning away and boarding the Bullhead.

It soon took off, leaving the group to look at Jaune.

They couldn't see his face, but he was trembling.

"Jaune, are you okay-" Weiss tried to ask him but he just ran off as fast as he could.

"What do we do now?! He's worse now than ever!" Ruby questioned in a panic.

Weiss looked around, she was still processing the events that just occurred.

"I... I don't know..."

* * *

 **WELL THAT WAS A DOOZY**


	5. Angry

**Had a lovely review by a reader, and I'm not being sarcastic, I did enjoy reading that, and other reviews I've been getting. And i want to clarify something, I don't intend to make Jaune as a weak and helpless character, as he does train with Pyrrha in the canon and with Yang in this story. His emotions are taking place now, he just didn't let loose earlier because he knew that his father's actions, while over the top, were the consequences of going behind his family's back.**

* * *

It's been a few days since Jaune was disowned by his father. He was obviously unhappy as everyone would expect.

Over the weekend he woke up early and slept late, and in between he just vanished.

His friends wanted to comfort him, but they didn't know how to approach him, let alone how to find him.

And so, once again the two teams, minus Jaune, were in Team RWBY's dorm.

"Jaune's gone off again..." Ren said.

"Again? Wasn't he gone all day yesterday?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, and we don't know where he has gone."

"And we checked everywhere! The gym, the training rooms, the classes, cafeteria, roofs and even Ozpin's office. He's just dissapeared!" Nora said.

"This isn't good, who knows where he could have gone. It's always a high probability that people make rash decisions when provoked. Who knows what kind of trouble he could be getting himself into." Weiss stated.

She may not have shown it, but Weiss was very worried about Jaune. Sure in the past he was seen as a nuisance to her, she couldn't help but feel an ache when she witness Jaune getting disowned. It was like her worst fear coming true, but she saw it happen to someone else.

"I guess there isn't much we can do. Jaune'a clearly not looking for company, and as much as we want to help, we can't even find the guy. The only thing we can do is wait." Yang said, and everyone understood what she was saying.

How can they ever hope to find Jaune if he's gone all the time? Not to mention they don't even have a clue as to what they would say to him in the offchance that they do find him.

Waiting was their only option at the moment.

* * *

It was Monday, and regardless as to how Jaune felt, he needed to attend class.

He still woke up as early as usual, and ate breakfast before anyone of his friends could show up, allowing him to head to class by himself.

Once time passed, his first class started.

Professor Port began a tale of his glory days, taking down armies of Grimm, and saving towns.

Jaune was not interested. His mind was busy being occupied by the events on that day. He couldn't focus on anything, except for his anger.

He was mad. Mad at his father, at his parents for deciding on disowning him. But he knew that it was a consequence.

But that didn't make it any better.

Classes went by, and he now sat in Combat Class.

Matches started and ended, one coming out victorious, while the other in defeat.

Time went by until a certain familiar pair was called, which snapped Jaune from his thoughts.

"Cardin Winchester, versus Jaune Ar- Jaune..." Goodwitch stopped herself, she had almost called him by his last name.

The two stood up and went towards the arena.

"What is Jaune doing?! He can't possibly go down there without a weapon!" Pyrrha exclaimed to the others.

Everything looked normal, up until they were to call for their equipment.

Cardin called in his locker and he equipped his armour and mace.

Jaune however, did not call for his locker, not even for his armour.

The two prepared for a fight, and Goodwitch decided to speak up to voice her concerns for Jaune.

"Jaune, would you like to get your armour?" She asked.

To everyone's surprise, he shook his head.

"Very well..."

Cardin readied his mace while Jaune got into his usual stance when he was training with Yang.

Weiss picked up on this.

"Wait a minute... That looks like... Yang!" Weiss turn towards the girl after realizing something.

"Yes Weiss?"

"Doesn't that stance look familiar?" Weiss asked her.

Yang focused on Jaune and saw his stance, it was similar to when he was training.

"You think he..?" Yang trailed off.

"He what?" Blake asked.

"Remember when he went to train with Yang for hand to hand combat?" Weiss asked, and everyone nodded.

"He did it, not because he needed a backup way of fighting, but because he knew that he was going to need it as a new way to fight."

Everyone looked at Jaune, wondering if it will work out for him.

"Begin!"

The match started, yet no one made a move.

Cardin didn't move because he was overconfident and wanted Jaune to make a move so he can counter it, but Jaune was analysing his opponent.

Cardin got bored and decided to take a swing at Jaune, and missed as Jaune dodged backwards.

This went on for a while, with Cardin attacking and Jaune dodging.

Cardin was getting annoyed, so he decided to go with his usual tactic, picking on him.

He inspected Jaune before he spoke up.

"Hey Arc! You certainly look like shit. What happened to you?" He said to Jaune.

While rude, he certainly wasn't wrong. With the little sleep he's been getting, and with the recent events, his eyes now dimmed slightly, dark bags have appeared under his eyes and his hair is more of a mess than usual.

"Maybe you were busy figuring out how to fight. But maybe that isn't the case, since you have no armour. Have you given up already?"

Jaune stiffened up.

Given up? No, not ever. He wanted to be a Huntsman. There was no turning back.

"Maybe you should. I'd like to see how your family reacts to their son giving up."

Jaune's fists clenched. Knuckles turning white.

"I heard Arcs are know for their heroic acts. Looks like you're failing that name. Or maybe you aren't an Arc for real at all-" Cardin was cut off by the feeling of a strong force, followed by an audible-

CRACK

Everyone was shocked as Jaune moved in an instant, and delivered an Aura boosted punch to Cardin's gut, launching him into the wall and sending up a large cloud of smoke, and taking out half of his Aura in the process.

Once it cleared, everyone could see that Cardin's chest plate had a large crack on it, and it was all over the front.

Cardin focused his eyes on his armour and moved a hand on it. As he touched it, his chest plate just shattered.

He looked up at Jaune fearfully. And he nearly wet himself as he saw the emotion that Jaune wore, one that the proud, noble and kind knight has never worn before.

Anger.

Jaune was pissed. Beyond pissed. He was so tired of people. Tired of Cardin's bullying. Tired of his family not having any faith in him.

He walked over to Cardin and grabbed him by the collar.

"Never, EVER, call me an Arc again. **Got that**?" He asked, anger seeping through his teeth.

Cardin quickly nodded his head.

"Good. Now go take a nap." After that, he gave another Aura punch which took out the last half of Cardin's aura and knocking him out.

The match ended, Jaune victorious for once. But nobody cheered. Everyone was frozen in their seats. His friends were petrified.

As Jaune walked up to his seat, Weiss stared at him, observing.

'He may have won that fight, but that was just because he had his anger fueling him. It wont be good if he stays like this.' She thought to himself.

Weiss pulled out her scroll and went through some information.

'I need to help...'

* * *

 **Ice Queen has a plan! Will it work?**


	6. A Plan

Weiss was ready. Today was the day that she set her plan into motion. It took a few days, but almost everything is set. She just needed to do one thing.

As she looked at her scroll, her mind was panicking just a bit.

'Will this work? What if he doesn't like it? What if this is a bit insensitive?!'

She let out a sigh, there was no point in worrying now.

She hoped this would work, even just a little bit.

Classes ended for the day, and she needed Ruby to help with her plan.

"Ruby?"

"Yes Weiss?"

"I require your assistance."

"For what?"

"I have an idea to help Jaune."

"What would that be?"

Weiss leaned towards Ruby and whispered her plan.

"Uh-huh... Yeah... Really?!" Ruby asked, eyes wide and sparkling.

"Yes, I want to do this."

"Let's go then!" Ruby exclaimed as she grabbed Weiss by the arm and ran with her semblance.

'This was probably a bad idea...' Weiss though to herself.

* * *

Days passed and everything was set. Her project with Ruby as complete. All she needed to do was to talk to Jaune.

She knew the best way was to simply send him a message.

She took out her scroll and sent Jaune a message to meet her on the roof.

She waited for about 15 minutes until she heard the door creak open.

She turned towards the door, hands behind her back, and she saw him. His anger has slightly toned down since his fight with Cardin, but the pain is still scarred on him.

"Weiss? You wanted to meet me?" He asked.

"Yes I did. Please, come here."

He walked over to where Weiss was standing.

"So, any particular reason you wanted to see me?" He asked. He was curious, he wasn't ever really close to Weiss, so he was a little surprised when she asked for him to meet.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about your combat."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, had she called him up here just to insult him?

"I wont lie, it's not working out too well for you."

"But I won against Cardin last time."

"Yes, you did. But only because you were fueled by your anger. Hand to hand isn't working for you."

"And do tell what I should use? In case you haven't realized, I have no weapon! I have no chance of affording another weapon that will suit me, or even last! So tell me, what else can I do?!" Jaune snapped.

Weiss was taken aback by his outburst, but she knew what he meant. Swords that lasted a long time are expensive, and only affordable ones will break when used in the profession of a Huntsman. But...

"I suggest you use this." She said as she moved her arms to reveal a cloth wrapped around an object.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Take a look."

Giving her a look, he slowly unwrapped the object. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside.

It was a white one handed broadsword with a bronze cross-guard and a blue handle, in a metal scabbard of a similar colour, shining bright as the moon shone over it.

"Weiss... Is-Is this..."

"Yes Jaune. This is your new weapon. Made from Atlesian Carbon Steel, the same type of metal used on the mechs and androids. Press the button beside the handle."

He was confused, but when he looked down, he saw there was a handle on the scabbard. He saw the little button and pressed it, and it expanded into a shield.

"But that must've cost you a fortune! There's no way I can accept-" He was cut off by Weiss placing a finger on his lips, effectively silencing him.

"Don't you worry about the cost. This is simply a gift from one friend to another. Well... two friends to be exact."

"Wait... two?" He asked a bit confused.

"Yes, look at the cross-guard on both sides.

He looked down at the cross-guard and saw the Schnee symbol etched into it. He flipped it over and saw a rose symbol taking place aswell.

"A rose? Wait, you and Ruby made this?" He asked and she nodded her head.

"We worked on it together over last few days.

* * *

 **A few days ago**

"Really?"

"Ruby?"

"Yes Weiss?"

"I require your assistance."

"For what?"

"I have an idea to help Jaune."

"What would that be?"

Weiss leaned towards Ruby and whispered her plan.

"I want to make Jaune a new weapon. I have all the materials ready at the forge."

"Really?!" Ruby asked, eyes

"Yes, I want to do this."

"Let's go then!" Ruby exclaimed as she grabbed Weiss by the arm and ran with her semblance.

The two arrived the local forge where a crate with the Schnee logo on it.

Weiss opened it up to reveal the contents.

"Is that Atlesian Carbon Steel?!" Ruby asked, marveling at the metal.

"Correct, we have a few bars of it to work with, as well as leather, bronze, and dust crystals." Weiss listed as Ruby's eyes were sparkling and her mouth drooled at the materials.

"So what kind of weapon are we making for Jaune?" Ruby asked as she snapped out of her mesmerized state.

"I plan to make a weapon similar to Crocea Mors."

"Ummm... But wouldn't that be... Kinda rude?" Ruby asked as she thought giving Jaune a weapon just like his family's weapon would be like pouring salt on a wound.

"I figured as much, but what else can we do? While he isn't extremely skilled, his combat style mostly revolves around sword and shield. It would be much if he had to learn to use a new weapon. Besides this wont be an exact replica."

"What do you mean?"

"We will also add these to the sword and shield" Weiss said as she pulled out some Aura conduits.

"Jaune has learned how to push out Aura into his attacks recently, so why not add conduits for his Aura and dust."

Ruby's eyes were wide as she thought of the possibilities.

"Let'a get to it!" She exclaimed.

* * *

 **Present**

"Well sounds like Ruby had fun making this then." Jaune said as he marveled at his new weapon.

"She did. She almost made it like her Uncle Qrow's weapon, whoever that is. But I stopped her before she did."

"But why? Why would you go through all that for me?" He questioned.

"Because I know what it's like to be under fear of your family, and to feel like no one out there is going to support you. They were against you, but you fought back. I want you to know that you now have support Jaune, from your friends, from me."

"Weiss... I... I can't thank you ad Ruby enough... all of you..." Jaune struggled to say as tears formed enough.

Weiss let out a sigh as she surprised Jaune with a hug. She may be an Ice Queen, but she knew when someone might need a bit of comfort.

"It's alright Jaune... We're here for you."

Jaune cried throughout the night. But not because he was hurt. No, he was healed by the one who he'd expect it from the least.

The cold dimmed the flame of anger.

* * *

 **I actually researched on swords... I LOOKED UP MATERIALS AND TYPES OF SWORDS! WHY?!**


	7. Sharpened

Jaune was ready.

He showed up before combat class started to talk with Professor Goodwitch about his new weapon, and that he was ready to fight properly.

She was glad to see the boy back on his feet with a clear head now.

As the class went by, Goodwitch called a familiar pair.

"Jaune Vs. Cardin Winchester." Goodwitch called out, this time not almost saying Jaune's last name.

The two approached the centre, but this time Jaune was wearing an expression that completely contrasted from his last spar. He was excited.

"Looks like Jaune's feeling better." Pyrrha said as she noticed Jaune's behaviour since last night.

"Really? Did he get over his family yet?" Yang asked.

"I don't know, but he was very happy when he came back last night."

"I wonder what could've made him this happy?" Blake asked.

Weiss and Ruby shared a look and smiled.

When the two fighters reached the centre, Cardin called in for his gear first.

Once he had his armour and mace on, he was surprised to see Jaune take out his scroll. Moments later, a rocket locker landed beside Jaune, and opened up.

No one could see the inside, but they figured it was his armour.

They were right about his armour, but what most of his friends didn't know was that his new weapon also resided in the locker. As a result, he surprised them when he took out the weapon.

Jaune drew his sword from thw scabbard and he transformed the scabbard into a shield.

"Wait, when did Jaune get Crocea Mors back?" Yang asked.

"Wait, that's not Crocea Mors." Blake said, which the others looked at her confused.

"What do you mean? That's gotta be Crocea Mors, the sheath became a shield!" Nora said.

"Yes, but look at his shield. It doesn't have his symbol on it, so it can't be the same weapon." Blake stated.

The others looked at his shield and true to her word, there was no Arc symbol, just a large bronze plus to reinforce the shield.

"Then where did he get the weapon?" Pyrrha asked, which elicited a giggle from Ruby and Weiss, which caused the others to look at them.

"What's so funny?" Pyrrha asked them.

"Nothing you guys, it's just-"

"Ruby and I the weapon for Jaune." Weiss finished for Ruby.

"Wait, when did you do this?" Yang asked.

"We started a few days ago, and then I gave it to him last night." Weiss said.

"So that's why he seemed so happy." Ren said.

"Wait, then why did you design it to be like Crocea Mors?" Blake asked.

"Jaune's combat style has already focused on sword and shield, it would be difficult if he were to learn to use a different weapon." Weiss stated.

"Ah, alright then."

Jaune and Cardin prepared to fight as they readied their stances.

Jaune took on his regular stance.

"Begin!" Goodwitch announced.

Jaune immediatly dash towards Cardin, who swung his mace to try and hit the blonde.

He was thrown off when Jaune countered the attack by swinging his shield at the mace, knocking it to the side, and swung his sword. He took out a chunk of Cardin's aura as he staggered back from the attack.

"A little lighter than Crocea Mors, but that's probably a good thing." Jaune said as he swung his sword a few times to test it.

"Don't think you can beat me with that toothpick Jauney-Boy." Cardin said as he gripped his mace with both hands and swung like a top.

He got close to Jaune and made contact with his shield. Jaune wasn't prepared for the blunt force and was sent back as a bit of his Aura dropped.

"Not so tough now are you?" Cardin taunted, noticing Jaune as he ran towards him.

He swung his mace again, only to miss the timing, giving Jaune the chance to whack him on the head with his shield before taking a slash at him.

Cardin took a vertical swing with his mace, but Jaune ducked and sweeps Cardin's leg, causing the boy to fall.

Everyone laughed at Cardin falling? which made him mad.

"Alright, you wanna fight like that, let's do this." He said as he pressed a button on his mace.

He swung his mace onto the floor, which cased a large explosion towards Jaune, blowing him away to a wall.

"What now Jaune?" He called out through the smoke.

What he didn't expect, was to hear him speak.

"Let's see if this'll do something."

All of a sudden, a red glow shone through the smoke. Suddenly, Jaune jumped through the smoke, with his sword engulfed in flames.

Cardin was certainly shocked as Jaune swung his sword, releasing a wave of flames towards him. The attack took out a chunk of his Aura.

"What was that?" Pyrrha asked, amazed at Jaune's new attack.

"Ruby and I added Aura conduits to his sword and shield, as well as a dust slot for each."

* * *

 **The Night Before**

"What's this space in my sword and shield for?" Jaune asked as he noticed two cylindrical spots, one on his sword, and one on his shield.

"Those are for dust canisters. You recently figured out how to project your Aura into attacks. Now you can use it for your sword and shield, as well as using dust for extra effects." Weiss explained as she handed to him two dust vials.

Red and White.

Fire and Ice.

* * *

 **Back To The Fight**

Jaune had Cardin on edge now. Jaunes new attack was new. It was strong.

The sword has still yet to finish using the fire dust, leaving the blade engufled in flames.

Cardin had yet to give up, he had another trick up his sleeve.

"That's a fancy sword you got there Jauney! But you aren't the only one who can use fire dust!" Cardin shouted as he pulled out the fire dust crystal from his mace.

He snapped the crystal in half and threw it at Jaune.

"Look out!" Cried his friends.

The dust began reacting and started to explode outward as a ball of fire. It engulfed Jaune. They though that was the end.

"Hahaha! How's that for a flame Jauney?" Cardin asked with pride.

However.

The match had yet be called off. Jaune's Aura still held through.

Once the smoke cleared, Jaune's form was seen crouched down and with his shield outward. The front of his shield was covered in ice. An ice dust vial was in the shield.

"Wait, what?!" Cardin asked in confusion.

"Sorry Cardin, but I wont fall for your tricks anymore!" Jaune said.

He quickly swapped the fire dust in his sword to the ice dust, and his sword had a layer of ice covering the blade.

Jaune charged towards Cardin. He swung his sword and it let out a flurry of ice. The ice cut away a chunk of Cardin's Aura, and froze his feet in place.

Jaune swapped the dust once again and his sword was on fire. With a shout, he swung his sword and knocked Cardin from his spot, breaking the ice, and taking out the rest of his Aura.

"T-the winner, is Jaune!" Goodwitch announced.

The class cheered for the victor. It was quite a show.

"Well Jauney is certainly going to do well." Yang said.

"Yes he will." Weiss said as she marveled at the result of the match.


	8. Offerings

There were many things Jaune didn't expect to occur in a day, one of those things is Weiss offering to train Jaune.

The two were walking towards the cafeteria when Weiss brought up the idea to train Jaune.

"Wait, can you repeat that?" Jaune asked Weiss as he wasn't sure if he heard her right.

"Oh you insufferable... I am offering to train you Jaune."

"Wait, why though?"

"While your spar with Cardin was impressive, you still have more to improve on." Jaune scratched the back of his head while he remembered that fight.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess it was just the excitement of trying out the new sword you and Ruby made just made me more motivated to win that fight. That would explain how I managed myself then." He said as he thought about himself in the fight.

"Which is all the more reason why you need to train. So you can execute a reflex and a smooth flow as you have before."

"By the way, have you and Ruby named my weapon yet?" Jaune asked.

"No we haven't yet, we decided to leave it up to you to name it, as it's your weapon" Weiss responded.

"Huh... Guess I'll think about it."

"Back to the topic of your training."

"Oh, right! So, you're going to train me?"

"Correct, we start tomorrow after breakfast." She said before she gave him a glare and poked his chest.

"Do not be late, got it?"

"Got it." Jaune said with his hands up.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow." Weiss said as she walked off.

"Good night Weiss!" Jaune called as she went through the door.

She stopped and backed out from the door.

"Good night Jaune." She replied before going through the door completely.

Jaune smiled, glad that he was getting close enough with her to actually bid each other good night.

Jaune stared at the shattered moon before letting out a small chuckle.

"I might experience hell tomorrow." He said to himself as he exited the roof.

* * *

Weiss woke up the next morning to find her team was gone. Ruby and Yang mentioned being out for some sisterly bonding time in Vale while Blake was elsewhere.

She took this time to get ready for the day. While she was getting ready, she was thinking of what to eat for breakfast. She sometimes dreaded the idea of eating the plain breakfast that the cafeteria has to offer.

The bread in this place is stale enough to knock down a person when used as a spear for Oum's sake!

Once she was ready, she exited her room and walked down the hall.

She stopped by the student lounge when she detected the delicious scent of bacon being made, and the sound of music.

Curious, she peeked her head through the entrance and was quite surprised to see who it was.

Jaune Arc, of all people.

He was cooking breakfast in the student lounge kitchen. As Weiss walked in, she noticed the assortment of food he had. He had bacon, toast, pancakes and some fruits. He didn't notice her walk in as he was still making the bacon, and he was swaying his body in rhythm of the song, and humming along.

It wasn't until he turned around that he noticed Weiss standing there, and let out a yelp of surprise.

"Weiss?! Oum above... you scared me." Jaune said as he recovered from the shock.

"Sorry Jaune, I did not mean to scare you like that." Weiss apologized, though not before letting out a light giggle at Jaune's scare.

"It's alright, I wasn't expecting anyone to come anyways. Have you eaten yet?" He asked her.

"No, I only woke up recently." Weiss said, and at that moment, her hungry stomach decided to make itself known as it let out out an audible growl for food. Weiss blushed while Jaune let out a light chuckle.

"If you want, you can join me for breakfast, no harm in letting you eat with me." Jaune offered.

"I-If you insist! I shall join you." She sat on a chair as Jaune laid the plates of food on the table for her to marvel at.

"Well, dig in." Jaune said.

The two began to fill their plates with an assortment of food and they ate.

Weiss wad amazed at the food, she never took Jaune for a cook.

"This is absolutely delicious Jaune, where did you learn to cook?" She asked as she ate another peice of pancake.

"Well, I grew up with seven sisters, which resulted in many... MANY, disastrous events..." Jaune shuddered as he remembered those days... the skies have never been so darkened by the smoke created by the seven monsters of the Arc family. Meanwhile Weiss chocked a little at the mention of seven sisters.

"But anyways, it fell upon me to learn how to cook." Jaune said.

"I see, well you are good at it." She complemented

"Thanks!"

The two continued to eat. They talked to each other about their teams, their classes, and Weiss learned more about Jaune and his family.

Eventually all the food was gone.

"Ah... that was good." Jaune said as he relaxed into his seat. Weiss was ever so slightly more dignified as she sat up in her seat, but also appeared just as full with her meal.

"I will admit, that was one of the best meals I had in a long time." Weiss said.

"Glad to hear it." Jaune said as he checked the time.

"Well, we better get going soon. Get on with my training." Jaune said as he got up and collected the plates.

"Right, I'll meet you at the training rooms." Weiss said as she got up.

"Alright. Just give me a moment to get ready and I'll be there."

"Okay." She said as she walked out if the lounge.

* * *

As she walked towards the training rooms, her mind went back to that moment between her and Jaune.

'He certainly can cook, that's a good thing. Not many people focus on cooking a well made meal. He would make a nice partner for anyone.'

As that last thought passed through her mind she stopped in place.

'Wait, did I just think about Jaune as a partner? No, no, impossible.' She reassured herself and she continued walking.

'But he would certainly make a good partner. He's shown how much he cares for his team and others, he has a strong resolve, and he has a kind heart. He doesn't care about Faunus in the way it causes discrimination. Rather, he's the type of person who would see past any labels, and see them as who they are.' Weiss counted all the good points about Jaune.

'The type of person I've always... looked... for...'

Weiss once again stood still as she replayed those thoughts to herself.

'Wait, am I gaining interest in Jaune?!' She cried in her mind.

* * *

 **Dun dun dun! Weiss-cream is starting to see Jaune in a new light, now that she's seen the type of person he is!**


	9. (Not!) A Date

The sound of metal clashing fills the room. Jaune began his training with Weiss.

Weiss wanted to understand Jaune's sword skills, or lack of, properly, so she suggested a spar.

It wasn't an all out spar, so Weiss wasn't using her glyphs or dust, just her Rapier against his Broadsword.

Just from the time they sparred, she understood a few points about his form.

"Alright, that's enough." She said.

"So, how did I do?" He asked.

"Your form is off, you focus too much on your arms than your legs and you put too much force into your swings which drains your stamina faster." She said, pointing out his faults.

"Which is why I'm going to help you work on that." She said after a pause.

"Right." Jaune nodded.

"Good, now first, let's work on your stance..."

Hours passed and Jaune had learned much from Weiss. He was a fast learner, and by now he had a proper stance. He now had a good balance between his arms and legs, so he wouldn't lock up in fights, and he had better control with his swings.

"Very good Jaune, you have improved. In time you will a proper Huntsman." Weiss complimented.

Despite her compliments, and his improvement, nothing could stop Jaune's exhaustion.

"Thanks Weiss, couldn't have done it without you." Jaune said from the floor. He laid on the floor as was breathing heavily, sweating. He wasn't in his usual attire, the combat rooms were blazing hot, so he just wore a simple white shirt.

Said shirt would stick to him as he sweat, which didn't go unnoticed by a blushing Weiss.

She shook her head and cleared her throat.

"Well, that should be enough for today."

"Oh, really? Well in that case, are you busy?" He asked as he sat up.

"No, I'm free for the rest of the day, why?" She raised an eyebrow, suspicious if he was planning on asking her out now.

"I wanted to go to Vale and pick up some Dust. I wanted to get some more since I already used up some of the Dust you gave me. So I wanted you to come with me since you know alot about dust."

"Ah that's right, I only gave you two vials to use. Well, I guess I can go with you to Vale, but in an hour! You need a shower, you smell like a dog." Weiss said as she pinched her nose.

"Alright, meet at the docks in an hour?" Jaune asked and Weiss nodded.

"See ya then Weiss." Jaune said as he walked off.

"See you then."

Once Jaune was out of range she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She really thought he was going to ask her out when he mentioned Vale, but when he brought up the Dust it made more sense.

A part of her wished he did ask her out.

But the rest of her just blushed at the thought and pushed it away.

'It's just an outing, not a date.' She thought to herself as she walked towards the dorms.

* * *

Weiss was picking out an outfit from her many sets.

It surprised her teammates however because of how much thought she put into it.

Sure, normally she wanted to look elegant as possible at first, but recently the only clothes she really wore were the uniform and her combat dress, even when they go out she wears her combat outfit.

"Hey, Weiss-Cream!" Yang said to get her attention.

"Yes Yang?"

"What's with the clothes? You going somewhere?"

"Yes, I'm going to Vale with Jaune." Right at she said that, the sound of several objects hit the floor.

Curious, she turned around to see a book, Ruby and Yang, who must've fallen off their beds, on the floor. All of her teammates had wide eyes.

"Wait, you're going to Vale, with Jaune, **Jaune**. Are we talking about "Tall, blonde, scraggily" Jaune, or another Jaune?" Yang asked.

With a sigh, Weiss responded.

"Yes, do you know of any other Jaunes?" She said as she started changing into an outfit she found best.

"No, it's just... well..." Ruby tried to find her words, but Blake interrupted.

"Didn't you decline him every single time he asked you out on a date?"

"Yeah! What she said!"

"This isn't a date, he simply asked me to assist him because he wanted to buy more Dust rounds, and wanted my expertise on it." She said as she fixed her hair.

"Ohhhhh, so it's not a date?" Ruby asked.

"Oh for the love of- No! It's not a date!"

"Alright, alright, relax..." Yang said with her hands up.

Looking at her reflection once more, she deemed herself ready.

"Alright, I'm going out." She said as she opened the door and walked out.

"Good luck with your date!" Yang said, waving her out.

Weiss stopped in place, turned around and gave Yang an icy glare before slamming the door and walking off.

Yang looked at her teammates, with a grin.

"It's totally a date."

* * *

Weiss walked towards the docks, as she neared she noticed a blonde sitting on a bench.

Jaune was sitting, on his scroll, wearing a white open dress shirt with a blue t-shirt underneath and black pants.

As she neared him, he looked up and waved at her.

"Hey, you ready to head to Vale?" He asked her.

"Of course."

"Good, let's go then. You look good by the way." He complimented.

Weiss blushed for a moment before muttering a thank you as she followed him into a Bullhead.

The ride was fairly quiet, well, save for Jaune's groaning as he tried to keep his lunch during the ride.

He luckily managed not to vomit when they landed, as he didn't want to embarrass himself.

"Okay, now that we're here, where to first?" Weiss asked Jaune.

"Well, I really only had the dust store in mind."

"Well, we can head there first and then plan as we go." Weiss suggested.

"That sounds good, let's go then!" Jaune said as he walked off down the street. He only walked a few meters before he froze.

"You do know where the store is, right?" Weiss asked.

"Ehh..." Jaune said sheelishly as he rubned the back of his head.

"Oh you insufferable... I'll lead the way, come on."

"Right."

Weiss lead tje way as they walked down several streets before stopping at a store called "From Dust Till Dawn".

When they entered, Jaune was mesmarized by the sight of all the Dust. Crocea Mors didn't use Dust, so he never had any reason to come here.

Weiss showed Jaune around the store as she showed the varieties of dust in elements, and forms. From fire and crystals, to gravity and powdered form.

"So, what do we do to get some dust?" He asked her.

"Well, we can ask for refills while we're here, but we should place in a special order for dust canisters, as I was only able to order so little refined dust powder at the time. We should also request to have the vials replicated so that you will have more than one vial of each dust ready." Weiss said.

"Wait, special order? Isn't that going to cost alot?" He asked nervously.

"Well of course, but it's vital that you have plenty of dust ready." Jaune paled, there was no way he was going to afford this.

"What's wrong Jaune? You seem a bit pale." Weiss asked.

"N-nothing, just... this seems a bit out of my price range, my parents didn't exactly provide me with money"

Weiss then realized that he ran from home, so he must've had very little with him.

"I-it's fine, I can get a job in Vale and maybe in the future I'll be able to-"

"No." Weiss interrupted.

"Wait, what?"

"I will take care of this, we cant have you unable to use your weapon to it's full potential. So I will take care of this."

"Weiss, I can't possibly let you-" Jaune tried to reason, but was cut off again.

"I wont have it any other way. Besides, I am a Schnee, I can easily afford it." **(Yea, for now... then wait till volume 3...)**

"If you're sure..."

"Of course I am."

One order and transaction later and the two walked out of the store.

"Those supplies will come in a week. For now, preserve your dust. Got it?"

"Got it." Jaune replied.

"Good, now that that's done, let us get lunch."

"Good idea, I was starting to get hungry myself. You know any good places around here?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

The two walked down the street, making a few turns before stopping in front of a small, quaint, homey cafe.

They sat at a table outside and a waitress came by with menus.

They ordered their meals, as well as their drinks.

Their drinks came first relatively fast. Weiss had tea while Jaune stuck to coffee.

"This is a nice place." Jaune said.

"It really is... It's a nice homey atmosphere that very few places have." Weiss said.

"That's true, it's unique in its own way."

Weiss nodded in agreement.

"You know, today has been fun. Sure we trained earlier, but coming out here is definitely a good way to relax."

"Correct, today has been enjoyable."

"Well then, to that we can cheer to." Jaune said as he raised his mug.

Weiss giggled a bit before raising her own mug.

"Cheers."

 ***Clang***

* * *

 **HOOOOO MY GAWD I LEFT THIS FOR 3 WEEKS IM AWFUL!**


	10. A Test

A week passed since Weiss and Jaune ordered more dust.

And by this time, a box was delivered to them.

The box contained Vials, similar to the ones used by Jaune's weapons. Each vial contained dust. All the basic elements were present. Air, Ice, Fire , Earth, Gravity and Lightning. The box contained 5 vials of each dust.

"Okay Jaune. We don't know what kind of effects these elements will have with your sword, so exercise caution when using them. Understood?"

"Got it." He said nodding.

"Good, now we should figure out a way for you to test out the dust."

"What about the Emerald Forest? It's close by and should contain plenty of Grimm for us to fight." Jaune suggest.

"Excellent, we will head there immediately. Before we go, put this on." Weiss said as she holds up a utility belt with 6 small pouches.

"What is that for?" Jaune asked

"This is for you. This should allow you to carry as well as organize the vials so you can bring them all." She says as she points at a pouch that had a red square one it.

He took the belt from her and strapped it on. The pouches were lined up so that there was two pouches on his left, two on his right, and two along the back.

He places the vials in their respective pouches and the two went off.

* * *

They reached the cliffs that overlooked the emerald forest. Only one thing came to mind.

"So... How do we get down from here?" He asked.

"Well? We could enter the same way we did last time." Weiss suggested.

Jaune gulped.

"Or we could use that continent staircase over there." Weiss pointed at a staircase that led down and into the forest.

"Yeah, let's use that." Jaune said, relieved he won't be trying to figure out a landing strategy. He can't expect another spear to save him this time.

The two walked down into the forest and went a bit deep inside.

"Alright Jaune, now here's a good chance for you to try out the other dust you got. First, we begin with Air dust."

Jaune nodded and loaded his sword with a vial of Air dust. The conduits in the blade shone white as the dust was being empowered.

He readied his weapon and with a strong slash, a strong, visible wave of air shot out, being dense enough to slice through bushes and even some trees.

"Very good, now try it with your shield."

He followed her instructions and his shield glowed like his sword previously did. He thrusted his shield forward and it sent another gust of wind outwards, not dense enough to cut objects, but strong enough to blow away objects.

"Excellent, now let's try Earth dust."

Jaune placed the vial into his sword and it shone brown. The weapon didn't show much change other than its glow. Confused, he looked at Weiss for answers.

"Try attacking an object." She suggested.

Jaune approached a tree and took a swing at it. What he didn't expect was for the tree to crack at the spot he struck, which then created a big hole in the tree.

"Seems like Earth dust increases strength in your swings, but what about your shield?"

Swapping out the Air dust for the Earth dust, it did the same as his sword, showing no change other than the glow.

Suddenly, the tree he previously struck broke and fell towards him.

"Jaune! Look out!" Weiss cried as the tree fell.

In a panic, he raised his shield towards the tree which upon impact rolled off the shield, leaving Jaune in spot, unaffected.

Marveled at the miracle, Weiss understood the properties of the shield.

"Your shield must have been strengthened for you to not feel or move from the impact of the tree."

"Probably..." Jaune said, still shocked from his near death experience.

"Now for Gravity."

Jaune placed the vial into the sword and it glowed gray. The sword suddenly felt like air, and Jaune tested a few swings before pulling off multiple swings in a short time.

"Seems like the dust made my sword lighter than air!" Jaune said.

He let go of the sword and it still fell towards the ground with its weight, but upon picking, it up it felt like air again.

Swapping the dust in his shield, the shield glowed grey and felt much heavier, nearly taking him to the ground.

"Seems like now your shield is able to be used as a stationary wall. Contrary to the Earth dust, this restricts your movement. It might be recommended to be used less or in a pinch." Jaune nodded.

"Now for the last dust, Lightning."

Jaune inserted the dust into his sword and it glowed yellow, with small yellow tendrils of energy sparking from the weapon.

He swung his sword and it sent a lighting bolt crashing down onto the ground like a laser beam, moving forward for a distance before fading.

Looking at his weapon, he thrusted his sword forward and it sent a lightning bolt forward, unlike the previous one it stayed only momentarily, but instead of hitting the ground, it shot through the air forward.

And finally, the shield.

Jaune inserted the dust into his shield and it too had yellow tendrils of energy sparking from it.

"Seems as though your shield uses the lightning dust to create an effect around itself, maybe when struck it will conduct electricity to the target." Weiss explains her theory.

"I see... Well I guess that's a wrap on the testing I guess." Weiss nodded in response.

As Jaune ejected the dust from his Sword and shield, Weiss spoke up.

"Jaune, have you come up with a name for your weapon yet?"

"No, I actually haven't given it much thought."

"I see, no matter, Ruby was constantly asking me if you've come up with a name for "Him" yet." She said as she points at his sword and shield, which elicits a chuckle from Jaune.

"Well, tell her I'll think of a name later."

"Understood." She responded.

"Now let's head back to Beacon." Weiss nods in response.

* * *

 **When was the last time I updated this story? March 30th? And what is it now? July 24... I am incredibly stupid. But I intend to finish this story!**


	11. The Mission

Jaune was accustomed to his new weapon. He's had it for close to a month and by now he learned how to properly apply dust to his sword and shield.

He won a spars against Cardin in Combat Class. He was no longer the clumsy fighter that he was before. Of course, he didn't get here alone.

Weiss... He was grateful for all that she has done for him. All he's done for her is annoy her with him constantly asking her out. And yet, when he was at his lowest, she reached out to him and assisted him back on his feet. He knew that she could be a kind girl, that was one of the things that he could see past her cold demeanor. There was no way he would ever be able to repay her kindness...

But that was a thought for another time. Ozpin summoned him and Ruby plus their teams to meet him in his office.

Once they arrived, Ozpin explained why he summoned them.

There's been an increase of Grimm in a certain area in Anima, they were to be deployed in a local town where they will assist a local Huntsman in driving off the Grimm.

Ozpin warned Jaune as he brought up the name of the town. It was the one Jaune was from.

And the Huntsman they were to assist was his father.

Jaune's hands clenched to a fist so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

"I understand that this isn't the most favourable terms, but I would like to remind you that there is alot at stake here." Ozpin said.

Jaune reluctantly nodded his head, accepting the mission. They were to depart tomorrow morning.

When they were dismissed, Jaune walked off in a different direction. He was most likely going to blow off some steam.

"Jaune must be feeling terrible that he has to see his father again." Ruby said.

"It is understandable, after what happened, how could he ever be on good terms with his parents, much less his father." Pyrrha said.

"Yeah... What do you think Weiss? Weiss?" Ruby asked, but noticed the white haired girl was gone from the group, heading in the same direction as Jaune.

"Where is she going?" Ruby asked.

* * *

To say Jaune was not happy. Here he was, finally getting better after what happened with his father, and now he has to see him.

He aimlessly walked into the Combat Arena. Realizing where he was, he decided to call in his weapon. His locker arrived in a matter of moments. He pulled out the sword and shield from the locker, leaving the dust, and walked over to a panel in the Arena. There, he activated a set of Combat Drones, ones that were meant to be used for training as they were easily disposable.

Once 3 popped in from the floors, one was bare handed, one held an energy rifle while the third weilded a sword and shield (Imagine the drones like the Atleasian drones), a loud siren went off, indicating the start of the training.

Jaune immediately unsheathed his sword and expanded the scabbard to its shield form and charged at the drones. He raised his shield as the first drone raised an arm, ready to strike.

It lowered its hand down and struck Jaune's shield with a strong blow, but he held his ground against it. He swiftly swung his sword, and it made contact with the arm, knocking it off from his shield, allowing him to spin around, delivering a kick to it's side. That was a move that he regretted.

He quickly jumped back on one foot, hopping in pain. "Sweet Oum that hurt..."

Recovering from the pain, he steadied himself as the drone made a beeline for him. As it went in for the punch, he sidestepped, before delivering a strong strike with his sword, slicing the drone in half.

As he marveled at the fact that he took down the drone, a shot rang out as a bullet grazed his shoulder.

Looking back, he saw the drone with the rifle aiming directly at him. It let out a barrage of shots that he blocked with his shield. He ran towards the drone, blocking any shots before knocking the weapon out if its hands. He stabbed the drone in the right in the core with his sword. Once he pulled the sword back, the drone fell with a thud on the floor as he looked at the drone, he heard the clatter of metal footsteps.

Once he turned around, he saw the drone with the sword and shield.

He properly inspected the drones, they were just a little taller than he was. Though for some reason the drone was really pissing him off. Holding the sword and shield. It looked familiar to him. Tall figure, wielded a sword and shield, kinda like... his father...

Looking at the drone, he could see his father in the drone, giving him a judgemental look. The same he always recieved when he couldn't complete his fathers training.

Oh that did him in.

He sprinted without a care. Towards the drone. It swung its sword, but when it made contact with Jaune, he did not flinch, nor show any signs of injury. Jaune was mad, with a quick bash from his shield, the drone was knocked back. Before it could get its balance, Jaune threw his shield at the drone, causing it to fall over. Once Jaune walked over to it, he glared at the drone before stabbing his sword right through the head of the drone.

After a moment, he heard clapping.

"Seems like our training is showing improvement in you. Hard to believe you're the same Jaune from initiation, still tall and scraggly." He heard the person say.

"Well, it's all thanks to you Weiss." He said turning around.

"But of course." She said walking towards him.

"So... Any reason why you're here?" He asked her.

She took a moment before responding.

"You seemed tense when Ozpin told us of the mission, I wanted to check on you."

He gave no response.

"Are you okay?"

"Cheeky." He said as he pulled out his sword from the drone, then making his way to the shield on the floor.

"Then what was that display with the drone?" She asked accusingly.

Letting out a sigh, he decided to explain.

"When I saw the drone, I saw my father... With Crocea Mors... He was giving me the same look when I was failed during his training... I just snapped." He lowered down to pick up his shield. Looking at it he could see his reflection on it.

"He never once believed in me... So I guess seeing him made me want to beat him. Though I know that will never happen." He said sadly.

Silence was present, nothing was said, but soon the sound of heels clicking on the floor was slowly getting louder. Before he could ask, a small pair of arms wrapped around his back.

"Wha- Weiss?!" He asked, slightly flustered.

"Shut up... You are you're own person Jaune... No one is allowed to put you down. And if anyone thinks badly of you, just prove them wrong."

A moment passed before he spoke.

"Thanks Weiss."

Clearing her throat, she moved away from Jaune. "It was nothing..." She said.

Looking at her, the could've sworn he saw a faint blush on her face, but he decided not to press.

"It's getting late, we should get some rest before the mission." He said.

"Right, shall we head to our dorms then?" She asked.

"Of course."

The two walked out of the combat arena and towards the dorms. They definitely needed rest for what was to come.

* * *

Morning came and the two teams were on a Bullhead heading towards Anima. Once they arrived near the town, they jumped from the Bullhead, landing near the entrance, weapons ready.

There stood a familiar, though not in a good way, figure. Taller than any of them, blonde hair and blue eyes. Jaune' father.

"Looks like you came, Jaune." Nicholas said with a gruff.

"Of course I came, Nicholas..." Jaune spat.

"Is that the respect you have for your father?"

"Last I checked, I have no father. I'm Just Jaune. Not Jaune Arc." He said back.

"And I see you have a new weapon. Seems too similar to Crocea Mors, even has a spot for the sword. Did you name it Crocea Mors too?" Nicholas said mockingly.

"As a matter of fact, no, I didn't. It's name, is **Rubrum Glacies** , Red Ice."

* * *

 **Aaaand another chapter done. Finally settled on a name. I picked Red Ice based of Ruby and Weiss, and translated it to Latin, as Crocea Mors means Yellow Death in Latin. I also picked Anima as Jaune's hometown area as it is mentioned he had camped there before.**


	12. Home

Jaune and the others stayed at a local inn in the town. Jaune couldn't sleep. He was too on edge from seeing his "father" again.

He decided to stand at the balcony of the inn and stared at the shattered moon.

There was always stories and theories about the moon. One said that the moon was once whole, but when toil came upon the earth, the sheer force of Grimm managed to reach beyond Remnant, causing the moon to shatter from the negativity of Grimm.

They say the moon will become whole once more when the world is at peace, free of Grimm.

They would never know for now, so it always gave them the beautiful sight that is the pieces floating near the moon.

Jaune looked down at his belt and saw Rubrum Glacies, **Red Ice.** He mulled upon the name. Red... the color of the half that made his weapons. Ice... the element of the other, the one who stood by him as he hurt.

He knew he could never pay Weiss back for what she's done for him. She paid and made his weapon with the help of Ruby, she trained him to be the best he could, and she gave him the ability to fight once more.

But he was repeating himself.

Tomorrow, they were to scout the outer area for Grimm. Unfortunately they were to be accompanied by his "father".

Jaune let out a sigh, despite it being some time since the event at Beacon, it still hurt Jaune that his parents even CONSIDERED disowning him because he stole Crocea Mors, more so the fact that they actually did it.

But that didn't matter anymore.

Arc or not, he is still Jaune.

* * *

Morning rolled by and everyone was up. They agreed to go eat at a local breakfast restaurant that Jaune knew very well back when he lived here.

When they entered, they ware greeted by a waitress and was seated.

Everything went well until she mentioned their weekend "All you can eat pancakes", and everyone at the table paled. All except for one, sky blue eyed, ginger, hammer wielding Nora, who's eyes went wide as her grin grew menacingly.

To put it simply, they were banned from the restaurant... forever...

"Man... And that was my favorite place to go to for breakfast..." Jaune said sadly.

Pyrrha was rubbing his back as he mulled about.

"It's okay Jaune, perhaps in the future they will overlook this if you come without Nora. At least it wasn't in Vale." She said.

"You're right, thanks Pyrrha! Now then, its almost time for us to meet with... Nicholas, so let's go to the Arc Manor." Jaune said, though he clenched his fists when he mentioned his father and his previous home.

They walked to the manor that was a little more secluded from the town, though for good measures as 8 kids could easily lead to disasters.

The manor was needed to accommodate the family, so the size was obviously needed. The house had a gate that surrounded the house.

The group stood by the entrance of the gate. As they waited, they hear the door of the house slam open and then several sets of feet running.

Jaune turned his head towards the source, and saw all 7 of his sisters running right at him.

 **"JAUNE"** They cried out as they tackled him into a group hug.

Jaune fell over and landed on his back as the weight of 7 girls was forced upon him.

They were all speaking over each other, some were crying, so it wasn't until Jaune spoke up that they calmed down.

"Guys! I need to breath!"

They finally got off of him, and allowed for him to stand up.

"Jaune, are these your sisters?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yes, of course! Let me introduce you! From oldest to youngest, first there's Janet, the "cool" one, and Mary the nicer one of the two."

Janet gave a two fingered salute saying "Yo" as Mary gave a small wave saying "Hello."

"Next we have April, who is more extroverted than I, and Judy, who has impeccable manners."

"Hello there!" April said.

"Pleasure to meet you." Judy politely said with a bow.

"Then there's Veronica, the tech nerd."

"Enthusiast! EN-THU-SI-AST!" Veronica said annoyed at being called a nerd.

"Then there's Julie, a bit of a klutz so be careful."

Said sister looked offended and slapped Jaune's arm.

"Am not!" She said pouting.

"And last but not least, we have Jane, my twin sister."

Jane gave a sheepish smile as she waved. She looked a lot like Jaune, even having a similar black hoodie with jeans combo, but her hair was in a ponytail. She even had that look that just spoke "Socially Awkward".

"Oh Jaune! It's so great to see you again." April said.

"Yeah! When we found out you left we were pretty sad, more so when we found out what mom and dad did to you..." Veronica said.

"Wait, so you didn't know about it until afterwards?" He asked.

"Nope! They never mentioned anything until dad finally got home from Beacon holding Crocea Mors. It didn't take long to put two and two together." Jane said.

"So we interrogated- I-I mean... questioned... them, they told us that they disowned you..." Julie said, looking down with a sad look.

"To say we didn't take it well was putting it lightly, we all got mad, we couldn't even talk to them for weeks." Janet said.

"Well, I may no longer be an Arc, but that won't stop me from loving you guys." Jaune said, making everyone say "Awwwww."

The seven hugged Jaune in a group hug.

Unfortunately, the sound of someone clearing their throat made them stop.

The source of the noise, Nicholas Arc.

"We have work to do, come on."

The 7 let Jaune go, and with some goodbyes, the two teams and the large man walked outside the towns walls.

"Time for what you came here for." Nicholas said.

* * *

 **Would you believe me if I said the hardest part was coming up with 7 names?**


	13. The Forest

The group of 9 scoured the forest that surrounded the town, looking for any Grimm to kill.

They ran into a few Beowolves and Ursas, but nothing too major came up.

Yang and Nora were starting to get bored, but the others were more than glad that there isn't anything major in the forest.

They decided to take a break at a clearing.

They sat on some large rocks and took the moment to relax.

Well, except for one.

Jaune was tense from being with his father. Now Jaune was never the kind to get mad at other people, but being near him was really starting to get to him.

He sat down on a large rock which was a little more secluded from the others, as he inspected Rubrum Glacies.

He could see the image of Crocea Mors within the weapon.

As he sat there, he heard footsteps behind him until he felt someone's back pressing against his. And the person spoke.

"And just what are you doing this far from the group?" The person revealing to be Weiss said.

"Just collecting my thoughts." He replied.

"On?"

"Everything."

"You're going to need to be more specific." She deadpanned, which he chuckled at.

"I mean, being here now, it makes me think about everything that has happened."

"In what way?"

"Well, I guess I may as well tell you. As a child, I always dreamed of being a huntsman. But unfortunately my parents refused to allow me to go down that path after I proved not to be worthy of a fighter. So, as you know, I got forged transcripts, and entered Beacon. Now, I am a leader of my team. And when my parents tried to take that from me, you came and helped me when I was at my lowest. Of course, I'm sure the others would've helped in their own way, but I will say I am glad it was you Weiss. "

Jaune couldn't see with his back against her, but she was donning a light blush from hearing that.

"Jaune, I-" She started but was cut off by Nicholas.

"You're a fool if you thought you could handle Beacon." He said.

"Excuse me?" Jaune asked.

"You couldn't fight, how could you ever believe to become a Huntsman if you could not fight?"

"Simple, I would learn. Something you and mom wouldn't let me do to actually prove I could be a fighter."

"Simply learning will not help you in the long run, strength is what you need."

"That's why I train."

"It won't be enough."

"Says you, I will continue on my path."

"Then you will die like a fool." Nicholas said harshly.

In that moment, something in Jaune snapped.

"ENOUGH!" Jaune shouted with a volume and tone that shocked every single person present.

"This is my dream, to become a huntsman. I've always wanted to protect others from the dangers present in the world, and so far, YOU have done NOTHING to assist that. YOU AND MOM GAVE UP ON ME WHEN I WAS 12, AND NOW YOU TRIED TO TAKE THIS FROM ME BY TAKING CROCEA MORS."

Everyone couldn't fathom what was happening. Even Nicholas knew Jaune was kind hearted, rarely showing any anger, yet at this moment, that was all Jaune was expressing. His teeth clenched, fist clenched and knuckles turning white while his eyes narrowed at Nicholas.

"You think I'm unworthy? Fine, then fight me. Fight me if you think I'm as weak as you think." Jaune said, readying Rubrum Glacies.

"... Fine, allow me to show you and the others what you really are." Nicholas said, readying Crocea Mors.

The others moved off to the edge of the clearing, in order to avoid the fight.

A gentle breeze passed and in an instant, Jaune kicked off the ground and rushed at Nicholas.

Nicholas was caught off guard by the sudden movement and was dealt a strong blow to the side.

He balanced himself and swung at Jaune. only for his blade to be intercepted by Jaunes.

Guiding Nicholas' sword to the side, Jaune spun around on his foot and delivered a strong kick to the chest.

Nicholas was blown back by the attack, but stayed on his feet.

The two traded slashes back and forth. Swords clashed as sparks flew.

Nicholas stood for a moment before pumping some Aura into his next swing.

With a slash downwards, Jaune dodged, but felt the strong impact as Crocea Mors hit the ground.

Nicholas quickly dashed at Jaune, using the same attack. It was at that moment Jaune noticed he was backed into a corner.

As the imminent impact was to come, he raised his shield he heard his friends cry his name.

What followed a loud clang from the sword impacting the shield, a small shockwave spread out, kicking up dust around the two.

As the dust cleared, everyone could see Jaune blocking Nicholas' attack with his shield, which was currently glowing brown.

"How?!" Nicholas exclaimed.

"You're not the only one with a trick up their sleeve." Jaune said as he bashed Nicholas back.

Jaune swapped the Earth dust for some Air dust, while loading his sword with fire.

Using the two combined, Jaune unleashed a gust of wind that carried a torrent of flames.

Nicholas barely managed to dodge before Jaune lunged at him with a flaming sword.

Nicholas parried Jaune's attack but was met with a strong gust of wind that sent him flying to a tree.

As he got back on his feet, he saw Jaune loading Gravity dust in his sword.

The weapon glowed grey before Jaune ran at him.

He swiftly delivered several slashes, faster than Nicholas could block or parry, causing him to take some hits.

Jaune ended the duel with a trust of his sword, which forced Nicholas on his back.

Jaune held his blade over Nicholas.

"Surrender." Jaune said.

Letting out a sigh, he conceded.

Just as he did, a pair of large King Tajitus' slithered into the clearing.

They were drawn to the fight, and now that it ended, they took the moment as a chance to strike.

The others prepared their weapons while Nicholas slowly got up to his feet.

He, unfortunately, couldn't assist in the fight as his Aura took quite a beating from the duel. Just one strong attack and it would shatter.

The two teams quickly got to work with one Grimm for each.

The Grimm were a little more difficult to handle as it was an older, and larger type of Grimm.

Ren jumped over the Grimm, letting out a torrent of bullets, while Nora bashed the Grimm's body with her hammer. Pyrrha assisted Ren with shooting the head, while Jaune slashed the body.

Jaune looked over to team RWBY's side and saw Ruby zipping around the Grimm, occasionally shooting at it while mostly using her momentum to use Crescent Rose to slash at it.

Blake was focusing her attacks at the head, using her semblance to get away from any attacks to come.

Yang would send out shots at the Grimm's head, but would mostly punch the area lower than the head.

Weiss was assisting as much as she could, deploying glyphs for the others to stand on in order to dodge attacks or for Ruby to get a good angle to launch herself at.

She used a glyph to slow down time for herself and was able to deliver several stabs at the Grimm.

Their Grimm let out a cry and whipped its tail, launching Weiss at a tree and shattering her Aura, causing her to fall on her front while dropping Myrtenaster in the process.

The two Grimm saw this as a opportunity to attack a fallen prey, and Jaune knew this.

He ran at Weiss and reached her before the Grimm lunged right at them.

Jaune barely managed to load some Gravity dust into his shield, causing him to go into a kneeling position. The Grimm hit his shield, but Jaune was able to take the brunt of the attack without moving.

He then loaded his sword the the Gravity dust and attacked the Grimm.

He managed a few hits, but it wasn't helping enough.

Weiss was able to open her eyes a little bit to see Jaune right in front of her, defending her against two King Taijjtus.

The others came to assist Jaune.

The fight was long but they were dealing significant damage.

While it looked like things were going well, everyone's Aura was starting to run low.

It was at this moment Jaune had an idea.

"Guys! I need you to buy me some time!"

"Got it!" Ruby said as everyone else nodded.

Jaune stepped back from the fight and loaded his sword with lightning dust.

He then began channeling aura, quite a lot more than the usual amount used when he used the dust.

After a long pause of charging up he was ready.

"Everyone! Get away from the Grimm!"

They all backed away from the Grimm, and the two turned their attention towards Jaune.

They lunged at him, but in that moment, he swung his sword down.

A large bolt of lightning violently struck the ground, effectively killing the Grimm.

Everyone watched in awe as Jaune managed to take down the two Grimm.

Focusing their eyes on him however, they saw him drop his sword, eyes half closed as he was losing balance.

He collapsed.

"Jaune!"


	14. Truth

Jaune was laid in his old room in the Arc Manor.

They were reluctant to have Jaune stay where he used to live, but decided it was better than trying to get him back to the inn.

After the intense fight with Nicholas and the Grimm, he ran out of Aura and immediately passed out.

Nothing too serious luckily, but they made sure to keep an eye out for him.

Though of course, part of this meant one person stayed at the manor.

They may trust Jaune's sisters, but his parents are another story and they'd prefer if someone could watch out for him.

And so the person who volunteered?

Weiss Schnee herself.

They setup a room for her beside Jaune's, which was convenient for her to be able to hear if anything should go bad with Jaune.

She was also resting a bit after having her Aura shattered, but that's besides the point.

She inspected the room and recounted what the manor looked like on the inside. It was far from being as large as the Schnee mansion, but it felt more, homey than her mansion.

The walls were littered with pictures, either of the current Arc's, or previous.

Strangely, the only pictures they had of Jaune was in big family photos as they didn't want to rip up a picture just to remove him.

The door opened, and a woman with flowing blonde hair and green eyes walked in. She wore a simple red shirt and blue jeans.

"Hello, I am Juliette Arc." The woman now identified as Juliette greeted.

"Weiss Schnee." She greeted. She felt something for this woman, but she held her tongue.

"I must say thank you for assisting my husband in the Grimm extermination."

"It's alright, it wasn't much until the King Taijitus' showed up. Now that we found the main source of the local Grimm, we will leave once Jaune wakes up." Juliette nodded her head a

as Weiss spoke.

"I do have one question, why did Nicholas come home with low Aura? Knowing him the Grimm wouldn't deal that much damage."

"That's because he and Jaune had a duel in the forest."

"Pardon?"

"Jaune challenged Nicholas to a duel, and Nicholas lost. End of story." Weiss said with a bit of snark in her words.

She may have been allowed to rest in the manor, but she is currently face to face with Jaune's mother.

After a long silence, Juliette spoke.

"You know. you need to work on your poker face. You got a look that's in between a scowl and a frown."

Weiss then realized her face was donning a slight frown as the thought of the woman in front of her ran through her mind.

"I apologize, it's just under the circumstances, I can't help but feel..."

"Angry?" Juliette finished, to which Weiss nodded.

"I would assume it's because of Jaune, right?" Again, a nod.

"I guess I should give an explanation." She said as she sat down beside the heiress.

"The Arc family line has existed for as long as history was written. We were seen as a beacon of hope in the battlefield. Strong warriors with Aura that shone above all. And with each generation, they became a little more forgotten up to now. Before our names was known all across Remnant, today, the most that know us is this village, and of my great grandfather who fought in the Great War. By the age of 18, the children become adults, and as such, they pledge to the rules of the Arc family, just like how we can make promises that we swear as an Arc. We are an old family that follows some of old tradition, one of which being who inherits Crocea Mors. It's a family rule that it shall fall upon the eldest child, regardless of gender. When Jaune took Crocea Mors, he essentially broke our oldest law. As a result, Nicholas and I had no choice but to disown him."

"But Jaune is 17, why does that still apply to him?" Weiss asked, confused.

"While he has yet to pledge to the rules, he still broke an ancient rule we followed, we told him that his sister was to wield it, but he stole it regardless."

"But then why was Nicholas so antagonistic towards Jaune?" Weiss asked. With a sigh, Juliette explained that too.

"Nicholas was really upset that Jaune stole Crocea Mors. It was one thing that Jaune disobeyed him and ran off to go to Beacon when his father prohibited him from going. But when he stole our weapon, he was infuriated. Sadly Jaune is only 17, therefore he didn't know the severity of his actions. Though... I will have a word with Nicholas when this is over." Juliette's expression darkened, she had a feeling that Nicholas was angry, but his actions are too much.

"I see..." Weiss said.

"Well, if that'll be all, I should get going, dinner needs to be made and I got a lot of mouths to feed. Relax for a while." Juliette said, and with that she exited.

Letting out a sigh, Weiss fell backwards and laid down on her bed. It was a lot to process after all.

After a few minutes pass, she heard the door knock.

"Come in!" She said.

The door opened and revealed Jaune already awake.

"Jaune!" Weiss said jumping into a. sitting position, surprised that he was already up and about.

"Heya Weiss." He greeted.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"A little sore, but I'm all good." He said, giving her a smile.

Weiss returned the smile with her own, and then patted the spot beside her, signaling for him to sit with her.

"You know, I heard you guys from my room." Jaune admitted.

Weiss tensed up.

"It's okay, its not your fault you wanted to know about why this happened to me. I just kind of wish they told me beforehand, so I wouldn't be as mad."

Silence fell upon the two.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes?"

She was surprised to feel his large, warm hand grab her smaller, colder hand. He lifted their hands up and held hers with a slight grip.

"Thank you, for asking them. Thank you, for everything." He said, beaming a wide smile at her.

"N-No problem..." She said with a slight stutter, a blush donning her face.

He let go, much to her disappointment, and got up.

"Well, I may need some more rest, wake me up when dinner's ready!" He said as he exited Weiss' room, leaving her with her thoughts.


	15. Reconcile

With the mission over, and Jaune recovered from the fight, the time has come for the two teams to head back to Beacon.

They waited in the area they arrived in for the Bullhead to pick them up.

"Ohhh, I can't wait to be back! Crescent Rose needs a tune up, which means another visit to the campus forge!" Ruby said excited to tinker with her weapon.

"Heh, not after we report our mission to Ozpin you don't Crater Face." Jaune said, causing Ruby to pout.

As they waited, they heard a twig snap, causing them to get up and ready to fight the source of the noise.

To their surprise, both Juliette and Nicholas were standing by the edge of the clearing.

"Ummm... What're you doing here?" Jaune asked, a little cautious.

Nicholas looked to the side, but Juliette smacked him in the back if the head, reminding him of why they were there.

"Jaune, I would like to have a word with you." Nicholas said.

Jaune sheathed his sword and everyone lowered their weapons, then walked over towards the two.

They watched as Jaune sheathed his sword, which caused the others to lower their weapons, but they were hesitant as Jaune walked towards them.

He stopped in front of the adults and they discussed among themselves.

"What do you think they want?" Ruby asked.

"Who knows but we can't let our guard down." Pyrrha said.

A few second pass and they were surprised to see Juliette grab Nicholas by the ear and tugged on it like he was a small child.

This elicited a few chuckles from the group.

"Well, if Juliette is treating Nicholas like that, then maybe it has something to do with apologizing." Weiss said.

"Why do you think that?" Ren asked.

"Well, I spoke with Juliette last night, she said she was only following a family rule when disowning Jaune, but Nicholas was antagonistic to Jaune on his own accord, which got her to decide that ahe needed a word with Nicholas. So I assume she's making him apologize for how he's been treating Jaune."

They watched the group talk for a little while longer, before they shared a hug and Jaune parted from the two as they went back home.

As he got together with his group, the sound of a Bullhead engine could be heard, meaning their ride was soon to arrive.

Midway through the ride, Nora spoke up.

"So, fearless leader, what did those two want with you?" She asked bluntly.

"Oh! Right. Well, it was more of my mom making dad apologize for being extremely rude." Jaune said, but the fact that he referred to them as "Mom" and "Dad" didn't fly right by them.

"Wait, why did you call them that?" Ruby asked.

"Ah, I guess I should explain more."

* * *

Back when Jaune was with Juliette and Nicholas

"So, any reason in particular you wanted me?" Jaune asked, raising a questionative brow.

Juliette looked at Nicholas with a similar expression, who just turned his head to the side, trying to avoid the situation.

"Why you..." Juliette grumbled, then proceeded to grab Nicholas in the ear like a child and pull it, making him face Jaune again.

"I believe you had something to say to him, don't you?" She said with a tone that threatened Nicholas' very being.

Letting out a sigh, he finally spoke.

"Jaune, I have to say I have made mistakes in the past. Some small while others large. One of the biggest mistakes I've made was going to Beacon and disowning you."

Jaune's eyes widened at the mention of that.

"What?"

"I won't lie, what I did was foolish. I was focused on old traditions I didn't think about what I was doing nor did I think about the consequences. I left you without a weapon, and training. And here you are now, stronger than ever. Jaune, you are a true Arc, you are no longer disowned, you are part of this family."

Jaune was shocked, his father was apologizing and now he was being brought back into the family he loved.

He did what he thought was best.

He hugged the both of his parents, with tears streaming down his face.

"Thank you..." He said quietly as his parents patted his back.

The separated after some time.

"Now then, it's time for us to go. I would offer you Crocea Mors, but I think Rubrum Glacies is more suitable for you." Nicholas said.

"Goodbye Jaune, make us proud at Beacon okay?" Juliette said.

"Of course! Bye guys! Love you!" He said with a wave as he turned back to his friends.

"We love you!" Juliette replied before turning back to the way they came from.

* * *

"And that's what happened." Jaune said as he finished telling the events.

"This is awesome! You're an Arc again" Ruby exclaimed.

"No more Jaune mysterio!" Nora said.

"I'm glad you made up with your family." Weiss said.

"If it weren't for you, I don't think any of this would be happened Weiss" Jaune said, giving her a smile, to which she replied with one of her own.

The Bullhead landed at Beacon, and everyone quickly exited, leaving Jaune and Weiss alone where they landed.

"Y'know, you have done a lot for me Weiss." Jaune said suddenly, making Weiss look at Jaune.

"You brought me from a weak, weaponless dunce, to a strong hunter, in training of course, and you talked to my mom which lead to me becoming part of my family again. So all I can do, is say thank you." He said, giving Weiss a hug, to which she hugged him back.

Once they parted, she spoke up.

"'Well, you better start showing your appreciation, because you owe me." She said sternly, pointing a finger at him.

"Of course." He said with a chuckle.

"Then you better start now, lean forward." He did as she told and when he was level with Weiss, he didn't expect her to grab his chin, turn his head to the side and plant a kiss on his cheek.

He was shocked, and looked at Weiss who already turned around, in an attempt to hide her cheeks that were turning red.

"You owe me a date, this weekend. No exceptions." She said as she walked away.

Jaune stood up straight and put his hand on his cheek.

"I'm really in for it now aren't I? Oh well. Things couldn't be better." He said as he walked back to the dorms.

 **The End**


End file.
